Wednesday, March 12, 2014

5 Questions With Horror Fan Cassie

Cassie is an almost 32 year old just-married horror fan living in the Midwest who has loved the genre for as long as she can remember. She actually got her husband Bryan to become a genuine fan as well, even though he initially said he "loved horror movies" when they first started dating, a lie exposed when they finally sat down to watch a horror movie together and he was cringing and cowering in his seat the entire time. It was Zombieland in case you were wondering. Yup.

What is
your first memory of being enthralled with horror as a genre?

I don't think
I have a specific memory of first becoming enthralled with horror. In my family we just grew up watching horror
movies together, so it was simply a part of our family culture. We always watched movies like Night of The
Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, etc. whenever they came
on TV. However I do remember the first
time I was legitimately scared out of my mind watching a horror movie was the
first Child's Play.

Do you have
a favorite horror movie, book, or television series?

I don't have
one particular favorite, I just love watching the genre classics all the
time. Like the first two Halloween's, the
first handful of Friday the 13th's, most of the Nightmare on Elm Street series,
and all of the Chucky movies. They provide the right mix of terror and the
supernatural to scare you, as well as an underrated intelligence or cleverness
to them that many people do not appreciate.

Has there
ever been a time you felt 'different' for enjoying horror?

Yes. Other
people always tell me, "Oh, I don't like being scared. Why do you like
being scared? There's already enough horror in the world..." Blah, blah,
blah! It is kind of rare to come across another person, particularly another
female who enjoys horror movies as much as I do.

Are there
any Black women in horror whose work you admire?

Off the top of
my head I'm not aware of any one in particular. But that's not just specific to
only the horror genre, unfortunately.

How would
you like to see the presence of Black women and women of color in horror change
in the future?

I would like
to see more black actresses in lead, starring roles. I certainly don't want
them in the movie standing there fulfilling the usual black stereotypes (before
then getting killed off early on). And of course I'd love to see more black
women working behind the scenes directing, writing, and producing.